11.03.2011

No. 5- Why Should The Fire Die?

Album:Why Should The Fire Die?

Artist:Nickel Creek

Year Released: 2005

I really got into this album...Fall 2006

Favorite songs include...“Helena”“Doubting Thomas"“Tomorrow Is A Long Time”

Why it’s so good...I was already a big Nickel Creek fan by the time they released Why Should The Fire Die? But it's this album that took them from a band I enjoy to one of the most influential and inspiring musical acts in my life.You have the expected features of Nickel Creek: Masterful instrumentation from each member (mandolin, violin, and guitar) and equally flawless singing and harmonies. You have the rawness that only bluegrass can deliver. You know- Nickel Creek standards.

But on this album they did a few things different with their composition and particularly their themes.Many of these songs are so intricately composed, you wonder how the songs are still so listener friendly. They don't have over-production, doubling of guitars, over-kill on synth orchestras, and all the other tricks bands use these days to fill their sound. They just have their music- raw and simple. They do what albums were meant to do- let you hear what the group sounds like in person.

And the themes within each song is much deeper than their previous releases.Take a song like "Doubting Thomas"- a reflection of singer Chris Thile's hesitance to commit to his beliefs for fear of being found wrong. Or "Evaline", one of the darkest and epic songs I've ever heard. The harmonies, the riff, the bridge of chaotic instrumentation- it all gives backdrop to the strain in Thile's voice.

I feel like of all my top 10 albums, this album will be the least listened to by my friends who follow this blog.So on this post, more than any other, I want to stress how benefited you will be to listen to this album. It is what music should sound like.